An L.A. Times report which characterizes the Sovereign Citizen movement as “a major threat” on a par with Islamic extremism infers that “more than 100,00 Americans” are domestic terrorists as a result of their affiliation with the group.

The article, entitled ‘Sovereign citizen’ movement now on FBI’s radar, frames the belief that “the U.S. is essentially under martial law,” along with support for reintroducing the gold standard, as political views indicative of violent extremism.

The report quotes Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who in one fell swoop demonizes “more than 100,00 Americans” as domestic terrorists.

“This is a movement that has absolutely exploded,” said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization based in Montgomery, Ala., that tracks domestic terrorists and hate groups. More than 100,000 Americans have aligned themselves with the sovereign citizens, the center said.

Potok has been described as “the Boy Who Cried Right-Wing Terrorist” because of his obsession with exploiting almost every act of violence to impugn conservatives.

“The fact that he is consistently wrong about, well, just about everything — from the political views of the supposed right wingers to the supposedly violent nature of conservative groups to the mere presence of violent crime — does not seem to dissuade Old Media from using him to smear conservatives,” explains Lachlan Markay.

The SPLC makes tens of millions of dollars every year demonizing politically active Americans as domestic terrorists, making it the most profitable “civil rights charity” in America, and yet the establishment media continues to treat the organization and its mouthpieces like Potok as impartial observers.

Of course, any political group with such a substantial membership is bound to contain a smattering of crazies – the report claims members of the Sovereign Citizen movement have killed six police officers over the course of the last 12 years – but to demonize over 100,000 Americans as violent terrorists on a par with Al-Qaeda because they express concerns about the militarization of law enforcement is clearly asinine.

Unfortunately, it’s now par for the course.

Despite the fact that the federal government was forced to back down on framing Ron Paul supporters, libertarians, people who display bumper stickers, people who own gold, or even people who fly a U.S. flag, as terrorists under the infamous MIAC report, the rush to denounce legitimate political beliefs as thought crimes, or even mundane behaviors, by insinuating they are shared by terrorists, has accelerated in recent months.

As we have documented on numerous occasions, the federal government routinely characterizes mundane behavior as extremist activity or a potential indicator of terrorist intent. As part of its ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign, the Department of Homeland Security educates the public that generic activities performed by millions of people every day, including using a video camera, talking to police officers, wearing hoodies, driving vans, writing on a piece of paper, and using a cell phone recording application,” are all potential signs of terrorist activity.